Saturday, October 14, 2006

UPDATE: Ok, breathing back to normal. Just about to sit down and watch College Football Final on ESPN. Some quick thoughts on the game:

* Is there a better big game player in the country than Mike Hart? Besides always getting the tough yards, with the game still on the line on Michigan's last drive - with everybody in the stadium knowing it's a running play to Hart - he still picks up the first down. Gutsy, gutsy kid.

* Steve Breaston makes big plays but - as a counter point to Hart - he needs to make that catch on Michigan's final drive. It hit him right in the hands. Both hands. He catches it, game over. Those are the plays he's lacked.

* First, the good about Penn State fans -- how loud was Beaver Stadium? Wow. And it definitely had a negative effect on Michigan, especially in the first half (hence those early procedure penalties). Props to PSU fans (and I didn't see one damn set of keys the entire game).

* On the negative side, Penn State fans may be the whiniest in the country. Did you see the guys with the ":02" painted on their chests? Jesus, get over it.

* Biggest play of the game was almost the PI against Morgan Trent with 3 minutes left in the first half. If he doesn't make that mistake, PSU is kicking out of its own endzone and I bet the game is a blowout. Instead, PSU drives the field and gets points, making it a game. We need to stop letting teams do this at the end of the first half.

* Morelli was knocked out of the game on a clean hit. At regular speed, it was throwhit. Sure, when you slow it down it looks later but so do 145 mph serves in tennis in slo-mo, too.

* Except for one mistake at the end, they were outstanding. But, unless you blow out a team, just ONE mistake can cost a team their shot at the BCS. There is NO room for error in the college game. Great job, overall.

* Henne looked very good. Very poised. And did you see him in the huddle at the end? He was a leader firing up the squad.

Even though the game was essentially over, as I said above, this was one of the most stressful days of my life. I watched the Tigers game, which was tight all the way and ended about 5 minutes before the Michigan game. Then, thanks to Morgan Trent's idiotic interference penalty, I couldn't even relax at halftime. So it was about seven consecutive hours of yelling, pacing, and swearing. My back is killing me. But at least I got two wins out of it.

Penn State was annoying, but UM had this in the bag. Nevertheless, we must develop a better killer instinct and win these games more easily. Can't keep letting teams you have dominated stay around like that. Sooner or later it'll get us. I wonder if Iowa will come in Sparty-like after that upset loss or if they will come in refocused hoping to get a signature win after that embarassing loss?

Man I hate USC, I have such a bad feeling if they go undefeated, Blue gets hosed. I'm sorry but there is no way in hell that that pass was catchable against Trent. Does Miami have their swagger back or what. Now they fight the guys who weren't good enough to play at the U. on the way home I think they're gonna jump Troop 326 for some thin mints.

We missed Manningham more than I thought. Henne was poised and focused and Hart is a bowling ball.

But otherwise -- this was a day of bloodshot chaos. I'm happy for Indiana and its staff but I feel like Iowa losing to Indiana makes the Big 10 look bush league. Miami: Imprison that team and its coaches. Auburn: Beating what I thought of as a charasmatic and likeable Florida team without a single offensive touchdown. Ugh. Adrian Peterson: Sad as hell, made sadder by the fact that it happened from a showboating dive.

I couldn't be more pleased with Michigan, but this was an ugly day for college football. College Football Final is like "Faces of Death" tonight.

I thought the play calling against Penn State was really good. I was afraid they'd go into a shell without Manningham, but they didn't. They allowed the players to make plays, and most of the time they did. Great job by Arrington, Hart, Henne and the O-Line.Howard21, we don't have to worry about USC. At worst we're #3. If we win out we're in the BCS title game without question.

Srudoff, to add to your poorly photoshopped profile pic, you have a ridiculous obsession with Michigan. Why don't you concern yourself with your own team until, say, November 11th through the 18th.

Perhaps I have you pegged wrong, and you are simply aiming to earn the title of "Official Lame-Ass tOSU Troll of the MZone" (which requires that you grow a Buckstache). In that case, carry on. Otherwise, why don't you head back to the Ozone where you belong?

PSU fans are bitching about a play that they THINK cost them the game.

M fans, nor this site, NEVER ONCE have said the dog search BULLSHIT cost Michigan the game two years ago. Instead, Michigan fans bring it up to illustrate what liars Tressel and the OSU program are since they said they did it to all other teams but did not.

The :02 thing is a particular sticking point for the unhinged PSU fans who post on some popular message boards. They have many varied and creative theories of a vast UM/B10 conspiracy to keep them down.

And no way in hell the ball in that PI call against Trent was catchable. That and the non-call for offensive PI against Hall late in the game. Fortunately we're good enough where it didn't matter, but the Trent call was a big momentum boost for them. Without that they're forced into a punt to put UM on a short field potentially giving UM a 17-0 halftime lead.

DeBord's playcalling was excellent. PSU was going all out to stop Hart early and so instead of "run or die trying", we actually made them loosen up with the passing game. Great job.

Finally, we (cleanly) knocked 2 QB's out of the game. Our D-line is just filthy.

PS I'm not saying nor have ever said it needs to be that loud for the Ball States of the world. However, do you EVER see the other teams QB struggling to audible like Henne was tonight? Or the two straight procedure calls due to noise?

I think it is going to be Meatchicken at number 2 today. USC struggled so.... We'll have to see, it will be close thanks to those ass-darts from the SE-MotherFucking-C (thats how they say it down here in Georgia). OSU #1 and Mich. #2 getting ready for the game on Nov. 18th. Man is anybody else excited??

Watch- UM will be #3. The sportswriters, etc. are a little bit too in love with USC, and on paper the 17-10 win doesn't look too impressive. I was listening to ESPN, and one of their pundits were pretty much saying the same thing....but then again, it won't matter. Running the table and a win at tOSU will put UM in the BCS Title Game.

Most of the media may be in love with USC, but we have at least one guy on our side. Did you hear Herbie giving Brent a hard time for saying it's a three-way race for #2 (before UF lost)? "How's that ASU team doing this year...must be doing well to be hanging with USC" and stuff of that nature.

can vouche for srudoff...I've seen the plate around town, and when I first saw it, it made me laugh.another fun fact about those M plates...Michigan doesn't get a dime for 'em because Tom Goss (in another of his brilliant moves)didn't bother to get the 'licensing' fees with the Sec of State's office. So--the State gets to use the Block M for free.

Am I the only one still troubled by the dropped/missed catches? There were several balls that could have been caught last night (one for a touchdown, a few for firstdowns) that wasn't. Henne threw a couple that wasn't catchable, but for the most part he was very good last night. Is there any specifc reason why they wouldn't be able to catch or hang on to the ball? Maybe the WR need to start doing some drills in just catching in practice...

Re. the :02 seconds: with all the whining by PSU fans and complaining about the whining by M fans, one important point is often overlooked: the refs made the right call by adding the time to the clock. I can understand the frustration of Nittany Lions fans, but they lose me when they claim they were cheated in the '05 game.

Re. our receivers: all of them were solid with the exception of Breaston. I really like Breaston--he's an electrifying return man and he has had a great 4-yr. career--but he is an awful wide receiver on passes beyond five yards. Get him the ball on screens or maybe quick slants, but I'm starting to feel that we should leave the other passes to anyone but him.

One more thought about which I'd love to hear from PSU fans: Does JoePa really coach the team anymore? It seems he just stalks the sidelines by himself, never communicating with the booth or even others on the sideline.

I believe it was Brent who described an PSU assistant's response to a question on how JoePa is handling the stress of coaching: "Joe doesn't handle stress, he creates it"; the implication being most everything is delegated and his job consists of not coaching but rather just being JoePa.

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